


would it be enough (if i could never give you peace?)

by imaginejolls



Category: Leverage
Genre: Eliot POV, Getting Together, Multi, Snapshots, he's not being an idiot in this one, very little sex in this one but hopefully the next one i write will be steamier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:40:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25727569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginejolls/pseuds/imaginejolls
Summary: Eliot keeps a promise.
Relationships: Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer
Comments: 6
Kudos: 111





	would it be enough (if i could never give you peace?)

**Author's Note:**

> *shows up a decade late with a laptop in hand* 'sup?
> 
> title from Taylor Swift's song "peace" off the latest album, because the song is extremely Eliot and also makes me want to cry.

Eliot leaves behind a scattering of apartments, string of one-night-stands, and no expectations. Leaving is his thing. Ever since he enlisted and left home behind, his family behind, his love behind. He hasn’t stopped leaving since. Until… LA, Ford, and the rest of them. Eliot isn’t sure what makes him stay in the first place. Something just clicks. And he gets curious and decides to see it through. For five years, he keeps staying.

If Eliot made it a habit to lie to himself, he’d say it started in Boston. He doesn’t, so he will admit it started in LA. 

Hardison drives him crazy, all youth, cockiness and grand gestures. Parker just seems crazy, back then. But Ford was right: they work well together, all five of them. So Eliot stays, and learns. Learns how to speak Parker’s language. Learns how to tolerate Hardison, and suddenly Eliot’s realizing he likes the guy. Damn him. Hardison is smart, sometimes too smart for his own good. But he provides security for the team in a way Eliot would never have dreamed of; security that is a little intangible but all-encompassing. Eliot is the bodyguard, yes, but Hardison makes sure their IDs hold up, and that their identities are practically untraceable. What he does is invaluable. Hardison sits at the computer, engrossed in the screens, fingers dancing across the keys for hours. And Eliot expresses his gratitude the best way he knows how, leaves plates of food on Hardison’s table without as much as a grunt.

When he gets to know Parker better, it surprises him how well they get along. It shouldn’t, probably, but he never would have guessed. She’s easy. Odd, particular, but easy. Parker jumps out of a window and trusts Eliot to catch her. He makes sure to catch her every single time. It feels like a promise.

Eliot crosses the country with them and settles on another coast. It gets easier, there. Eliot should probably be frightened of just how easy it is. Eliot Spencer may be a lot of things, but he isn’t a coward. And he’s not exactly stupid, either; he’s observant enough to know that there’s _something_ budding between Hardison and Parker. Slowly, so slowly. Eliot waits and watches, but nothing changes between Hardison and him, or Parker and him. So Eliot stays, curious. 

Little by little, Eliot starts baring bits of his soul to her, to him, both of them in different ways, but still the same. And Parker and Hardison _see_ him. See right through him, his tough demeanor, the bullshit, all of his self-loathing. There’s a storm raging inside of Eliot that he isn’t sure will ever die down, but they see it, see him whole. And they stay. Fuck if he knows why. But they’ve made a decision, and so does Eliot. 

Shit hits the fan during the Wickett job. It’s one of the rare times when Eliot is terrified, his palms damp with cold sweat, his heart beating erratically, and hearing Parker’s urgent pleading in the earbud doesn’t help. Eliot holds Hardison for a long time, clutches him tightly to himself and makes him promise to never, _ever_ do that again. They fuck two weeks after that. Eliot doesn’t feel guilty about it, not really. They’re all adults here, no matter what it may seem like sometimes. The opportunity presents itself when Alec offers to help him with dishes. Eliot can’t help but kiss him. The plate that Alec’s been holding slips out of his soapy fingers and shatters on the floor. Eliot didn’t expect anything less. He flashes a grin and Alec kisses it off his lips. 

“You cool with this?” Eliot asks, but what he really means is: Parker cool with this? 

“Hell yeah, man,” Hardison says. His smile is bright white. Eliot tugs him down by his collar and kisses him for a long time, dishes be damned. They end up fucking on the floor, steering clear of the shards. They rut desperately against one another, mouths hot on each other’s cheeks necks shoulders chests. Hardison comes, and Eliot thinks that if Parker saw him right now, she’d want to steal him. Eliot comes a bit later and rolls away. They lie on Eliot’s kitchen floor, panting, covered in jizz. Eliot chuckles and Alec just starts laughing. 

There isn’t time for more to happen. Not between jobs, anyway. Hardison and Parker continue existing in Eliot’s space comfortably, eat his food, judge his music taste and get on his nerves. It’s familiar enough. 

Eliot doesn’t think about the future. He does his best to quiet the uneasiness thrumming beneath his skin, the _but_ s and _what if _s. Punching things helps. His fist connects with a punching bag, a jaw, the solar plexus, and his mind is silent, focused on a singular goal: protect the team.__

__He kisses Parker once. She explains her reasons, but they make as much sense to him as if she didn’t. She’s small and strong, unyielding under his hands. Her mouth is warm, methodical. It’s pleasant, but quickly over. Parker smiles at him and disappears, and Eliot is left only with his heart beating in his ears and the ghost of Parker’s mouth on his own._ _

__

__Back on the west coast, Parker is saying: “Hardison and I are dating.” Eliot winks at the two of them like he’s keeping a secret; like he’s promising something. They give him a smile. Alec’s is big and unashamed, Parker’s more private. Either way, it is a confirmation of a pact unspoken._ _

__Parker asks him to teach her how to likes stuff, and Eliot does his damn hardest trying. It takes a while, but he succeeds. And when it clicks for her, something clicks for him. _They’re really doing this.__ _

__“It ain’t gonna be easy, this,” Eliot says. “Us.”_ _

__Parker flashes him a grin. She’s sitting on the arm of the couch, same height as Hardison that way, leaning into him. “That’d be boring.”_ _

__Alec just gives him his best _What she said_ look. _ _

__And it’s not, it's not easy, it’s not boring either, and most importantly, it doesn’t make Eliot want to leave. Ever._ _

__The first time all three of them have sex together isn’t the greatest time of Eliot’s life, but they make it work. Alec comes fast, Parker doesn’t at all. But she curls on top of him all the same, asleep within minutes. Eliot looks at them, nestled together, and feels a warmth in his chest, in a place he once thought was empty. He knows better know._ _

__

__Sophie and Nate leave. It’s not that unexpected, not to someone like Eliot who watches people for a living. But still, a twinge of sadness settles at the tips of his fingers. He says: “Till my dying day,” and the thrum of the storm gets louder in his ears. He looks at his hacker and his thief, and knows down to his soul that they’ll be alright, just the three of them._ _

__Eliot stays. It’s never going to be easy, but it is enough._ _

**Author's Note:**

> i've fallen into a Leverage-shaped hole and i expect to crawl out in September or maybe never. i really want to write something more smutty for these three, so hopefully the next fic that comes to me will also come with an E rating.
> 
> if you want to talk, i'm basically everywhere as imaginejolls!


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